Protector: Doms of Mountain Bend Book 1 by BJ Wane (good books to read for 12 year olds .txt) 📕

She hesitated before answering with her first direct look. “Halldor, Lisa. Thank you, Sheriff.”

The name didn’t ring any bells, and Shawn let it go, his interest obviously muddling his head. “Take the first right up the road and that will take you into Mountain Bend. Welcome to Idaho, Miss Halldor.” With a farewell tip of his hat brim, he pivoted and returned to his cruiser. By the time he slid behind the wheel, she was driving past him with a wave, that wary expression still on her face.

****

Lisa gripped the steering wheel, glancing in the rear view mirror. She kept driving until she saw the last of Sheriff Shawn McDuff’s taillights, then pulled over until she could calm her racing heart. Nothing could have prepared her for that unexpected encounter with the man she was sure had rescued her that night twenty years ago. She’d recognized him right away, not from the grainy newspaper photo but from the impact of looking into those piercing gray eyes again. Only this time, his astute gaze slammed into her with the same jarring force as the jolt of heated awareness that went through her when their hands touched. She floundered with uncertainty over how to deal with coming face-to-face with him again, and her unforeseen, adult reaction to that simple touch. The sexual longing he had reawakened inside her was even harder to understand.

When her application for the substitute teaching position was accepted hours after she’d submitted it, she’d given her principal the rundown on her situation and he hadn’t hesitated to grant her a leave of absence until the fall. As she’d packed in a hurry to get away from whoever was out to get her, her only goal had been obtaining a sense of safety. Worse than the threatening phone calls from her stalker had been his silence the last few days before she’d gotten on the road with her car packed to the hilt. The last threat of the dead cat had scared her into moving quickly, whether she’d gotten the job or not.

Playing it safe, she had withdrawn enough money from her meager checking and savings accounts to pay cash for gas and lodging since leaving Arizona. Lisa doubted this person could get access to her credit card transactions and track her whereabouts, but she wasn’t taking any chances after going to such extremes to get away from him. She’d counted on her sudden disappearance to discourage her stalker, and knowing her one-time rescuer would be close by had inadvertently helped her make the decision. She hadn’t planned on meeting any of them and never imagined she would get hot and flustered from the light brush of her rescuer’s fingers against hers and the penetrating astuteness of his eyes. The craving to submit to that focused gaze still trembled deep inside her, reminding her of the way she used to respond to the Doms at the club before becoming a victim had turned her cold inside.

I didn’t move here for an affair. That thought had never entered in any of the talks she’d had with herself whenever common sense intruded and tried to change her mind about coming to Mountain Bend. The nagging voice that kept insisting this was a stupid idea was speaking loud and clear again as she resumed driving.

Despite her lingering stupor over that chance meeting, Lisa was well aware Shawn had shown no signs of recognizing her. She’d never expected any of them would, but admitting the one who mattered the most didn’t help to quell the spark of arousal still warming her inside and out. By the time she reached the Mountain Bend city limits sign and mammoth welcome billboard, the hypersensitive nerve endings throughout her body had returned to normal. Too bad she couldn’t say the same about the conflicting chaos still filling her head.

She was more grateful now than ever for Master Wade’s written referral to Spurs, a nearby private club, that he’d given her before she’d left. At least she would have a venue to escape to when she needed relief from her taut nerves, or if she wanted to take her mind off the one man she had no business lusting after.  With luck, the change of scene and Doms would be enough to break through the ice that had prevented her from responding ever since the first threatening phone call from a stranger had brought about a return of her childhood nightmares.

After living her whole life in Phoenix, the country’s fifth largest city, she’d assumed adjusting to life in such a small community would take some time. Instead, as she drove through town and spotted just one restaurant attached to a reconstructed brewery, three fast-food joints, and a two-street combined business and shopping district, she realized the conveniences were all a bike ride from several rental options.

Following the owner’s directions, Lisa found the Miner’s Junction Bed and Breakfast with no problem. Making reservations for a week at the quaint wood-planked, renovated nineteenth-century home seemed the fastest way to get here  and then scout for a small temporary rental. The corner lot offered parking in the rear, and after grabbing her toiletries suitcase and purse, leaving her larger bags for later, she followed the sidewalk around to the front entrance. The rush of a gurgling river reached her ears, and she wondered how close it was to the established, tree-lined neighborhood.

Opening the ornate front door, she stepped inside where a dark-haired woman behind a short counter greeted her with a beaming smile. “Welcome to Miner’s Junction. You must be Lisa.”

“Yes. You’re Ms. Zimmerman?” Lisa set her bag down and held out her hand.

“Jen, please. You’ll learn quick enough we don’t stand on formality around here. How was your trip?” Jen turned the register around for Lisa to sign.

“Good, other than taking the wrong exit off the highway. I found you,